It’s almost here. Infinity War is right around the corner.

The date has crept up on us all and has left many of us scrambling to binge watch all 18 films to make sure we’re all caught up so that we can all fully appreciate what’s sure to be the movie event of the year.

Let me save you some time by giving you a recap of all the things you need to know before Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters this week (today if you bought pre-sale and April 27th for everyone else)! If you haven't seen all 18 films there may be some spoilers...

The Infinity Stones

Before the universe existed, there were 6 singularities. Then the big bang happened and the universe was born. The explosion forged the 6 singularities into stones and each stone grants whoever wields it, near complete control over that particular state.

The 6 stones are the Mind Stone, the Power Stone, the reality stone, the Time Stone, the Space Stone and the Soul Stone. The stones have shown up sporadically across the films of the MCU but where are each of these stones?

The Space Stone

The Space Stone is located within the Tesseract.

The Tesseract was first used by Red Skull and HYDRA in Captain America: The First Avenger to create weapons of mass destruction for the Nazis. 

It was then later used by Loki to open a portal to allow the Chitauri army to invade Earth in The Avengers.


After the Avengers defeated Loki and the Chitauri, Thor took the Tesseract to store it safely in Odin’s vault on Asgard. However, during the destruction of Asgard in Thor: Ragnarok, Loki took the Tesseract from the vault and it is now on the Asgardian ship, heading to Earth.

The Mind Stone

The Mind Stone was originally located in the sceptre, handed to Loki in the Avengers, which allowed him to control the minds of whoever he touched. 

However, after Loki was defeated, the sceptre fell into the hands of HYDRA who used it to illegally experiment on humans, creating Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

The Avengers were able to retrieve the scepter in Avengers: Age of Ultron, only to lose it to Ultron who went on to remove the stone and fuse it to the body that would go on to become Vision. 

The Mind Stone remains embedded in Vision’s head, making him a prime target for Thanos.

The Reality Stone

The Reality Stone takes the form of the Aether in the MCU. 

The Asgardian army initially secured the Aether years ago and buried it far from the reach of any being, however, the convergence led to Jane Foster accidentally awakening it. 

Thor was able to safely recapture the Aether but because the Tesseract (Space Stone) was already on Asgard, it was thought to be unwise to keep two infinity stones so close together. As a result, the Aether was transferred to the Collector’s vault.

The Power Stone

Star Lord accidentally stole an orb containing the Power Stone, not knowing what it was, with the intention of selling it. Thanos enlisted Ronan the Accuser to capture the Power Stone for him from Star Lord, but Ronan betrayed him and captured the stone for himself.

Realizing what the orb contained, the Guardians were able to stop Ronan and reclaim the stone, leaving it on Xandar, in the hands of the intergalactic police force - The Nova Corps.

The Time Stone

The Time Stone is located within the Eye of Agamotto, an ancient artifact kept safe at Kamar-Taj, the link between Sanctums. Doctor Strange learned to use the Eye of Agamotto to fast-forward, pause, and re-wind time while studying under the Ancient One. Strange also learned how to make time-loops, which he used to defeat Dormammu.

Realising the power of the Eye, Strange returned it to Kamar-Taj, where it could be kept safe from falling into the wrong hands.

The Soul Stone

One of the great mysteries of the MCU. 

The Soul Stone is the only stone out the 6 that is yet to appear in any of the films. 

Will we see the stone make an appearance in Infinity War? We’ll have to wait and see.

Character and status updates

Thanos

Thanos is a big deal. He’s the reason that the whole MCU is going to have to come together. He’s the one who’s been pulling the strings behind the scenes of every MCU film to date. He’s the reason these stones are even worth paying attention to.

But what does he want?

Thanos wants to wield all the Infinity Stones in his Infinity Gauntlet so that he can have complete control over the universe. If he manages to get them all, he will be able to wipe out the universe with the snap of his fingers.

But why would Thanos want to do such a thing?! You’ll find out next week.

Steve Rogers and Team Cap

Steve Rogers has given up the title (and shield) of Captain America as he felt that was a title given to the soldier who followed orders from S.H.I.E.L.D and the US Government but after the events of Civil War, that man no longer exists.

Steve also freed all the heroes who fought alongside him from the raft at the end of Captain America: Civil War. However, these heroes are now branded fugitives from the law and are being forced to go into hiding or operate in secret. These heroes include: Black Widow, Falcon, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch. 


(Given Vision and Scarlet Witch's romantic involvement, it’s assumed Vision is in hiding with Wanda)

Tony Stark and Peter Parker

Iron Man has been aware that the Earth would be vulnerable to a threat from outer space ever since he flew into the portal in The Avengers. He even went so far as to create Ultron in an attempt to keep the Earth safe from such a threat. With the threat of Thanos looming, what other measures has Tony Stark taken?

Tony has also taken time to take a young hero from Queens under his wing. Tony has taken it upon himself to personally look out for Peter and train him into becoming a fully fledged member of the Avengers by teaching him what it means to be a true hero.

Despite, Peter’s best efforts to impress Tony, Spider-Man, still isn’t an official member… yet.

King T’Challa and Bucky

King T’Challa has officially shared the once-secret nation of Wakanda with the outside world after he realised that Kilmonger made a compelling argument. Not only that, but T’Challa has agreed to also share Wakanda’s technological knowledge.

Black Panther has also formed a close friendship with Steve Rogers after T’Challa realised the war was secretly orchestrated by Baron Zemo. 
As a result, and in an effort to apologize to Steve for attempting to kill him and his friends, T’Challa agreed to keep Bucky safe in Wakanda and have Shuri treat him, possibly freeing him from his brainwashing and maybe giving him a new metal arm.

Doctor Strange

Now Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange spends his time looking out for otherworldly threats to the planet from the New York Sanctum.

The only hero on this list to have successfully mastered the use of an Infinity Stone will surely play a massive role in the events to come.

Guardians

The Guardians have perhaps the closest relationship to Thanos. Gamora and Nebula are adopted children of Thanos who took them in after murdering their families. Drax’s family were also murdered in one of Thanos’ schemes. So they have a clear desire to stop Thanos from taking any more lives.

The Guardians are also the heroes with perhaps the most detailed knowledge of the Infinity Stones and what they can do.

After defeating Ego and saving the galaxy for the second time, the Guardians set off in search of their next adventure.

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Thor, Loki, Hulk and Asgard

After defeating Hela by teaming up with Loki, Hulk, Heimdall, Valkerie, Korg and others, Thor: Ragnarok saw the destruction of the land known as Asgard and the death of Odin.


Thor was crowned King of Asgard and rules from a spaceship that is headed for Earth. 

However, unbeknownst to Thor, Loki managed to steal the Tesseract from Odin’s vault before the destruction of Asgard and now has it on the ship. 

Thor: Ragnarok ended as Thanos’ ship pulled up in front of Thor’s. Presumably for the first Infinity Stone…


So that’s pretty much most of the stuff you need to know about the current state of the MCU - hopefully that saved you having to cram a few hours of binge-watching!

Check out the trailer below

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